Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Kearney Regional Airport lies about five miles northeast of Kearney, Nebraska, in Buffalo County, and combines a busy general aviation base with Essential Air Service links to Denver and Chicago-O'Hare. Its long primary runway and ILS approach make it a straightforward and well-equipped stop for VFR pilots crossing the central Plains.
Kearney Regional Airport (KEAR/EAR) serves Kearney, Nebraska, and the surrounding Buffalo County area as both a general aviation hub and a small commercial airport under the FAA's Essential Air Service programme. It is owned by the City of Kearney and traces its roots back to a wartime military airfield, making it a field with real aviation history as well as modern utility for the visiting VFR or IFR pilot.
The airport sits five miles northeast of the city of Kearney in Center Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska, close to Highway 30. Overlying air traffic services are provided by Minneapolis Center on 119.4 MHz, with Columbus Radio available on 122.55 MHz for flight service contact.
Kearney Regional has two paved runways. The main runway, 18/36, is 7,093 feet long, hard-surfaced and lit, with an ILS serving runway 36. The crosswind runway, 13/31, is 4,491 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit.
An AWOS-3 automated weather observation is available on 123.875 MHz. Traffic advisories and airport operations are handled on the CTAF/UNICOM frequency of 122.8 MHz. En route contact is available with Minneapolis Center on 119.4 MHz and with Columbus Radio (flight service) on 122.55 MHz. An ILS approach is published for runway 36, supporting instrument arrivals in poor weather.
The airport began life as Keens Municipal Airport, developed after the City of Kearney approved a bond in early 1941 to build a new field on Highway 30, with construction starting on 21 October 1941 and the airport dedicated on 23 August 1942. The project was substantially funded by the Works Progress Administration, and the site was linked to the wider wartime effort in central Nebraska, including proximity to the later Kearney Air Force Base; a handful of buildings from this era survive, notably Hangar #385. Scheduled airline service began with Mid-West's Cessna 190s in 1950-52, followed by Frontier Airlines' DC-3s from 1959 and Convairs through to 1979. In 2008 an Armed Forces Reserve Center was dedicated on the airport, housing non-flying Army Reserve and Nebraska Army National Guard units. Essential Air Service passenger flights to Denver have run continuously since 1997, and O'Hare service, introduced in late 2019, was suspended in 2022 before its restoration was approved by the Kearney City Council in 2025.
Kearney Regional Airport is now described as a leading general aviation facility for central Nebraska pilots and businesses, alongside its role as a commercial gateway. United Express operates scheduled flights to Denver and Chicago-O'Hare under the Essential Air Service programme, currently flown by SkyWest Airlines under a contract running from 2024 to 2027. Cargo operations include FedEx Feeder flights operated by Baron Aviation and Suburban Air Freight services to Omaha. As of the year ending October 2021 the airport recorded around 21,770 aircraft operations annually, the large majority general aviation, with 33 aircraft based on the field including single and multi-engine aeroplanes, jets and helicopters. A federal grant announced in December 2022, together with a separately contracted terminal expansion, has been funding facility renovation and expansion works at the airport.
